Carbon nanotubes are single wall or multi-wall carbon structures with diameters that can typically range from 1.4 nm to 15 nm and lengths that can range from 30 nm to 20 centimeters. Nanotubes can behave like metals or semiconductors, can conduct electricity better than copper, can transmit heat better than diamond, and rank among the strongest materials known. Bucky paper is an entangled mat of carbon nanotubes. Being made of carbon, bucky paper is bio-compatible. The carbon nanotubes that comprise the bucky paper form a highly-porous mesh structure that provides the bucky paper with moderate rigidity and high strength.
The delivery of therapeutic via the placement of an implant at a target site inside a patient is an often repeated medical procedure. The benefits and purposes of performing such a procedure are innumerable and can include enlarging constricted lumens, reinforcing recently re-enlarged lumens, replacing ruptured vessels, and targeting the delivery of therapeutic to a specific target site. Implants used in these procedures can be delivered through various methods and systems including balloon angioplasty and catheter injection.
The vessels, lumens, and other target sites, which can be treated by implants alone or implants in combination with therapeutics, can be located throughout the body and can include the coronary vasculature, the esophagus, the trachea, the colon, the biliary tract, the urinary tract, the prostate, the brain, and the various other organs. Examples of implants that have been used include: vena cava filters; stents; stent-grafts; vascular grafts; intraluminal paving systems; pace makers; venous valves; and, heart valves.